


circle

by glitterjungwoo



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Car Sex, Eventual Smut, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Living Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Party Games, Recreational Drug Use, Resolved Sexual Tension, Size Kink, soccer team dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:01:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23465809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterjungwoo/pseuds/glitterjungwoo
Summary: When Johnny said that realizing his ideal type would come unexpectedly, he wouldn’t expect it to happen in such an earth shattering way. It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, and Mark didn’t feel like he had cleared through any obstacles.Instead he felt like he wanted to cry or scream or both, and he felt like he had made his life harder by deciding that Johnny was what he wanted.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Moon Taeil, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Kim Jungwoo/Nakamoto Yuta, Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 35
Kudos: 305





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**Author's Note:**

> So...I started this fic back in May 2019 and after getting through most of it, I got really insecure and discouraged and almost left this fic to die. That was until my best friend Bea ([@xuxisbong](https://twitter.com/xuxisbong)) motivated me and helped me finish the rest of this fic. Please check out her works, she recently posted 2 new works that are amazing! And we also have a joint fic together, plus a new fic coming from her is on the way :D 
> 
> where you can find me!  
> twt: [@sapphicyuta](https://twitter.com/sapphicyuta)  
> cc: [glitterjungwoo](curiouscat.me/glitterjungwoo)

“Jesus Christ Mark what did you pack in here? Rocks?”

“Johnny I only packed my clothes in that one! How are you the goalie of the soccer team yet you complain about a small suitcase?”

“Say one more word Mark and I’m throwing this back down the stairs so you can carry it!”

Mark wiped away a drop of sweat that was making its way down the side of his face. It was the end of August and the summer weather was making any place without proper AC absolutely impossible to be in comfortably. He was currently dragging up boxes and suitcases up the stairs of Johnny’s apartment complex. The dingy hallway was stuffy and hot and Mark felt like he was two seconds away from passing out.

After getting accepted into the college of his dreams on a sports scholarship, Mark was ecstatic to start his freshman year with a whole new set of teammates along with his long time best friend Johnny Suh. Although he was 2 years older than him, they had played on soccer teams together ever since they were kids. From small neighborhood groups to competitive high school teams-they experienced it all together and just knowing that he had Johnny by his side made Mark feel more at ease.

Johnny had insisted that Mark move in with him, he had the extra space and needed some help with the rent and Mark coming in was perfect timing. He was in no position to deny Johnny’s request, just the notion of having his own room instead of sharing one with a stranger was enough for him to say yes. 

However, the moving process was a pain in the ass, and the heat wave that was running its course wasn’t making anything better for them. Mark had driven his tiny beat up car up to the university with all the belongings he needed and now he was second guessing himself on the stuff he brought. If he’d gone more minimalistic they wouldn’t be here struggling with so much. 

They only had a few more things to go, after about an hour or so of just walking back and forth between Johnny’s apartment on the third floor and Mark’s car parked in the lot. Not even an intense session of conditioning was as rough as what they were doing right now.

“Johnny can we please get shaved ice after this, it’s so fucking hot dude I think I’ll pass out if we don’t,” Mark says with a strained voice as he carries a heavy box in his hands.

“Bro you don’t even have to ask me twice. I’m so down for shaved ice after this. You don’t even need to unpack, we can just go and worry about that later,” Johnny replies.

Mark laughs, “Our future selves are going to hate us so much for this aren’t they?”

“Maybe so, but let’s live in the moment-specifically the moment where we both want shaved ice when we’re sweating buckets.”

They continue on with their task at hand, moving a bit faster with the motivation of getting to eat sweet shaved ice after. Mark could feel his mouth watering just thinking about his watermelon flavored treat that would turn his tongue and his mouth red for a few hours. 

Once the last box was set on the floor of their apartment, Mark walked over to the fridge and proceeded to open it wide and shove his head in it.

Johnny burst out laughing, “Mark what the hell are you doing? If you’re too hot I can just turn on the AC in here you know?”

“Johnny, we're millennials. We need instant gratification, remember? This is giving me the instant gratification that I need to survive.” 

Mark stares straight at a jug of 2% milk as Johnny adjusts the thermostat, making sure that the AC would be set for them by the time they came back.

Johnny walks up to Mark crouched in front of the fridge and sets his hand on top of his floppy blonde hair, “alright Mark, are you going to stay here or are we going to get shaved ice?”

Mark shoots right up and hits his head on the edge of the fridge opening in the process, he immediately feels Johnny cradle his head and attempt to soothe the pain. 

“Mark you need to be more careful! You wouldn’t want to get a concussion before the first day of practice would you?” Johnny teases.

Mark puts his hand to his forehead and tries to shake off the pain, “whatever, I just really want my shaved ice now. Let’s go before I end up hurting myself again here.”

  
  
  


Twenty minutes later, they were sitting at a picnic table across from each other right outside of the shaved ice shop. Johnny has gotten his lemon flavored while Mark dug into his watermelon flavored ice. The drive to the shop in Johnny’s car consisted of the both of them blasting summer music and singing at the top of their lungs. If they gathered a few strange looks from other drivers on the road who had their windows down as well or pedestrians walking on the street, Johnny and Mark paid no mind to it as they were having the time of their lives.

“Has Yuta added you to the team group chat yet?” Johnny asks.

Mark nods, “yeah but to be honest I kinda have it muted after the whole ‘is cereal soup’ discourse.”

They both laugh loudly, “oh geez I have never seen Jungwoo get so mad and fired up over a topic. Did you hear the voice memo he sent? It was like 3 minutes long of just him roasting the absolute shit out of Jaehyun. And when he responded with a ‘k’ he got even more mad it was hilarious!”

Mark’s eyes widened, “wait! I didn’t hear the voice memo what the heck?! I need this in my life!”

The two of them giggle uncontrollably as Johnny gets his AirPods out and hands Mark one. He hits play on the voice memo and they hear a soft voice spitting absolute fire into the mic.

_“Okay Jaehyun, I don’t care about what your wonder bread looking ass has to say because there is no way that cereal counts as soup. Are you saying that you would get the ingredients for chicken noodle soup and instead of broth you would use milk for it? Is everything okay at home? Did Doyoung find out about your small crush on his brother and is now putting you on sex drought which is why you’re just spewing all this nonsense out of your ass? Don’t come to practice tomorrow or else I’m shoving the net pole up your entire ass for even suggesting that cereal could be soup-”_

The audio is cut off and the two of them were laughing so hard that they were receiving dirty looks from a couple at the table next to theirs.

They tried quieting themselves but anytime they made eye contact with each other they would just burst into laughter all over again. Mark even nearly choked on a spoonful of his shaved ice and tried as hard as he could to not spill and dribble artificially flavored watermelon syrup all over his white t-shirt.

“Okay I think we should get going, that couple keeps giving us dirty looks and we should unpack your stuff back at the apartment. Yuta wants us to be at practice by 9 AM tomorrow so he can meet all the new guys and get us all settled in,” Johnny says.

“9 AM? Are you serious? And here I was hoping to sleep in after all the working out we did carrying my shit to your apartment.”

“Nope, we have to be up early and make sure that we leave with enough time to get to the field. Yuta will make you run laps if you’re even five minutes late, that’s how anal he is about being on time.”

Mark groans, “are you serious? I guess I really have no choice now. Let’s go, so I can at least get all my clothes into the closet and dressers.”

  
  


It takes Mark about a good 2 hours or so to get half of his stuff unpacked. He feels happy with himself that he managed to get all his clothing out plus his favorite blankets and pillows so he can get his bed set up. Johnny helped him build a few shelves, Mark was a bit hopeless with reading IKEA instructions on his own. There were still a few boxes on his floor, but at least Mark had taken care of a majority of the work and could just finish the rest off little by little until classes started the next week. 

Mark flopped onto his bed and looked at his phone. It was currently 9:42 PM and he was shocked that it wasn’t later in the night. He opened the team group chat and saw that two people named Jaemin and Jeno were playing 8 ball while Yuta was attempting to give them the run down of tomorrow’s practice. Mark looked over the agenda and he only needed to see the word “conditioning” to know that he was going to be in for it yet again.

At that moment there’s a knock at his door and Johnny walks in. His hair is a bit damp and he’s changed into his pajamas which consisted of some old practice shorts and a large t-shirt. 

“Did you see the plan for tomorrow?” He asks.

Mark shoved his face into his pillow and let out a muffled scream.

“Same...we need to make sure we eat a good breakfast tomorrow. We can’t be passing out on the field and it’ll be hotter than it was today. I have a ton of Liter sized bottles that we can take.”

Mark lifts his head up, his hair a bit messed up from being shoved into the pillow, “I love soccer, I really fucking do, but man does conditioning make me want to get kicked in the face with a soccer cleat. It would hurt less!”

Johnny laughs and soon enough Mark falls into a few giggles as well. The two of them never being able to not be the silliest people on earth when they were together. 

After a few minutes, Johnny says goodnight and goes to bed. Mark stays up for a bit just scrolling through twitter on his phone and saving a few memes to his phone for later that he finds hilarious. He doesn’t know at what time, but eventually Mark feels his eyes get heavier and he knocks out with his phone on his face.

  
  


At 7:00 AM, Mark is woken up by his alarm blaring right into his ear. It was enough to scare him awake and he nearly fell off of his bed. He quickly shuts it off and takes a few deep breaths to calm down his heart that was now beating way too fast. 

Mark checks his phone and sees a few good luck texts from his mom and dad. He quickly responds to them and sends a few heart emojis for his mom before crawling out of bed.

Johnny is already in their small kitchen cooking up breakfast. It smells absolutely amazing and Mark can feel his stomach growling in anticipation. The TV is playing some reruns of old cartoons and Mark takes a seat at the dinner table and watches them as Johnny finishes making their breakfast. 

“Did you sleep well last night?” Johnny asks.

Mark lets out a yawn, “yeah, I just slept with my phone too close to my face and my alarm scared the crap out of me.”

“I’ve been there before, just chill out for a bit. I'm almost done cooking the eggs.”

The TV distracts Mark enough, he isn’t really processing anything that’s going on with the plot of the certain episode of the cartoon but it’s good nonetheless. He’s too tired to really process anything yet, Mark feels himself really itching for some coffee.

“Hey Johnny, you still have that keurig right?” 

Johnny nods, “yeah it’s over there on the counter, grab whatever cup you want just not the caramel macchiato ones. Those are Jungwoo’s for when he comes over with Yuta. He has all of them accounted for so he’ll know if we take one.”

“I’m guessing I don’t want to get on his bad side?” Mark chuckles.

“I’m serious dude, he’s really soft with the freshman but the older team members are terrified to get on his bad side. You saw how he went off on Jaehyun,” Johnny says.

Mark laughs a bit remembering about the voice memo, he honestly wanted to witness that in person because it was hilarious to hear such strange insults that would come out of someone’s mouth. He had only really seen pictures of them on Johnny’s Instagram and it was hard to connect the voice memo to Jungwoo, who looked like he wouldn’t hurt a fly.

After the coffee was done, Mark took a sip and let the caffeine slowly recharge him. Johnny finished with breakfast and they both sat and ate while talking about Mark’s classes for next week.

They both got ready for practice, making sure to bring enough water and electrolytes to keep them energized all day. It was going to be a hot day and they would definitely need it.

  
  


  
  


The walk to the soccer field took about 7 minutes, Johnny was fortunate enough to get an apartment that was within walking distance. The streets were relatively empty, which was understandable since it was early still. 

When they reached the soccer field, Mark recognized Yuta immediately. He was standing in front of a cart with a clipboard and was talking to some older men that were probably the other soccer coaches. He then saw Jungwoo who was setting up the nets with a few other players he didn’t fully recognize. 

They both walk up to Yuta to check in, he has his hair up in a ponytail and is looking a bit stressed, probably because it was one of the first few practices for them. 

“Hey Yuta, Mark and I are here. Do you need help with anything?” Johnny asks.

The captain looks at them and gives them the best smile he can at that moment, “it’s okay, maybe just get the cones ready? I’m still waiting on a few more guys to show up. Jaehyun, Taeil, And Sicheng are helping Jungwoo out with the nets and stuff.”

They nod and quickly gather up the bright orange cones.

Johnny looks at Mark, “don’t worry, Yuta always is a bit stressed at the beginning of the year. Give him a week and he’ll be perfectly fine. He isn’t one to snap at people but he will cry if he’s pushed far enough. I’ve seen it happen five times in one week during finals.”

“Noted, don’t make the captain cry.” 

They get closer to the group setting up the nets and Jaehyun is the one that spots him first.

“Hey guys! Hi Mark!” Jaehyun yells.

“Wait! That’s Mark?!”

Jungwoo runs over to them and grabs Mark by the shoulders, “Johnny you didn’t tell me your friend was so adorable! I just want to put him in my pocket!”

“Please don’t, it’s already too hot outside, I’ll die,” Mark says.

Jungwoo laughs loudly and pulls Mark in for a bone crushing hug. 

“Looks Like Jungwoo already took in Mark, you got some competition John,” Jaehyun teases. 

Johnny smiles, “It’s cool, I’ll just wait for Yuta to start pouting because he’s not getting enough attention from Jungwoo and he’ll go off to coddle someone else.”

“You know that’s not what I meant Johnny.”

Johnny looks at Jaehyun with confusion, but before he can really ask Jaehyun what he meant, their conversation is interrupted by the loud blow of a whistle.

Everyone on the field turns to look at their captain who is gesturing for them to come back together. They all run over and let the first practice of the year begin.

  
  


They finished up by an hour past noon, the heat rising to a concerning level caused Yuta to end the practice a bit early so that nothing would happen to them on the field. They were all sweating buckets and no matter how much water they all drank it never felt like it was cold enough. 

Despite the harsh heat, Mark really did have a lot of fun. He got acquainted with the other freshman that joined the team as well with the older players. Everyone was really friendly and helpful and Mark was excited to come back to practice tomorrow.

They were all sprawled out on the grass with ice packs and cold towels on their faces. Jungwoo had passed them out from a huge ice chest along with food and other drinks. 

“Bro, it’s so fucking hot I feel like my skin is melting off,” Johnny groans.

Mark is silent, feeling the way the cool towel chills his hot skin. To anyone that saw him, they would think he was asleep, but Johnny knew better.

So he decided to squirt some water onto him.

“Johnny!” Mark yells. His friend is already getting up and making a run for it.

They chase after each other on the field, getting each other even more wet and completely drenching their practice clothes. Yuta is yelling at them to settle down, but his attempts are in vain and they don’t stop until the water in their bottles runs out.

Mark and Johnny sit back on the grass next to Jaehyun and Taeil. The two of them spread out like starfish on the ground.

Jaehyun looks at Mark and wolf whistled, “damn Mark, for a small guy you’re really packing a nice body. Kinda like Taeil with his fat ass-”

He gets smacked in the face by Taeil with a wet towel and the two of them proceed to go back and forth with it.

Mark looks down and realizes that his shirt has now clung to his body due to it getting soaked by Johnny and it has conveniently revealed the fact that yes, he does have a nice six pack going on. The material is getting way too heavy and annoying, so Mark just opts for removing it completely.

Jaehyun and Taeil wolf whistle at him, garnering them a scolding from a cranky Jungwoo that makes them stop immediately.

At no point does Mark notice the way that Johnny hasn’t stopped staring at him since Jaehyun opened his mouth about his body.

* * *

The rest of August feels like a blur of everyday practices and warm afternoons spent in the living room of the apartment with Johnny trying to figure out his math homework. Mark feels more at home with the team, and has gotten closer to Taeil and Jungwoo especially. Jaehyun feels like an older brother to him and the first time he lets it slip that he considers him that way, Jaehyun does his best to hide the fact that he’s tearing up and offers to buy Mark a popsicle after practice.

Although it’s a week into September, the heat still hasn’t calmed down and after every practice Mark can just feel how drenched in sweat he is. During one particular day where the dry heat was absolutely unbearable, half the team opts to just practice shirtless because...why the hell not?

Yuta scolds them and warns them to not do it at first, if they fell down it would hurt more and the grass would make them itchy. That is, until Jungwoo removes his shirt and rubs his body with sunscreen. Observing the way his boyfriend's skin looks all shiny and glossy in the sunlight makes Yuta immediately pull back and just simply urge for the boys to at least put on a layer of sunscreen if they’re going to go shirtless.

Mark, Jungwoo, Jaehyun, And Sicheng are all running around the field without their shirts. During their small breaks in between practice, Mark sees Jaehyun take some selfies and send them to someone with a huge smirk on his face. He looks at Johnny and is about to ask what was up with that but is quickly shut up with the view he is being given.

Johnny had stood up and removed his sweat-soaked practice shirt in one go, throwing it on the grass behind him. He calls for Yuta to hand him the sunscreen and Mark watches the way his muscles flex on his arms. Not only was Johnny intimidating with his height, but his arms were fit and his body made Mark shrink into himself with how sculpted it was. He could feel himself asking over and over again, when did Johnny get so ripped? Was he always this...dare he think, attractive? 

With the sunscreen secured, Johnny starts spraying and rubbing it all over his shoulders and his arms. When he gets to his chest, Mark nearly chokes on his water as he sees Johnny carefully massage the sunscreen into his pecs and abdomen. He’s too fixated on Johnny’s six pac to hear his friend calling out to him. Mark does, however, feel the granola bar aimed at his head.

“Mark Lee to Earth, Johnny’s been trying to get your attention for like 3 minutes,” Jaehyun teases.

“Sorry, it's just really hot and I’m tired.” 

Jaehyun mutters something under his breath and Sicheng smacks him. Mark turns to look at Johnny who is now back to sitting next to him holding out the can of sunscreen.

“Can you get my back? I’m scared that I can’t reach all the way and I don’t want to risk getting a sunburn,” Johnny says.

Mark nods and grabs the can from him, “did you already spray it on your back?”

“Nah, I figured you could do it better. I’m really not about to take any chances with how hot it is right now. I hate getting sunburned so much.”

“Cheers to that bro.”

Mark gives the can of sunscreen a little shake before aiming it at Johnny’s back. The first spray is a bit weak but the second produces a steady stream of sunscreen. 

Johnny immediately hisses and physically cringes from how cold the sunscreen feels on his back. Their teammates laugh as they watch Johnny try to hold it together. Mark would’ve fallen into a fit of giggles himself if he wasn’t so determined to finish getting the sunscreen on Johnny’s back as fast as possible.

Once Mark feels okay with the amount that he’s applied, he begins rubbing it into Johnny’s skin. His hands quickly warm up the sunscreen and Johnny leans into Mark’s hands that are massaging his back muscles. There’s a knot in Johnny’s left shoulder and Mark decides to just soothe it out of his back. He wasn’t expecting the way Johnny groaned deeply as he worked on it with steady hands. Despite it being nearly 100 degrees outside, Mark felt like he was breaking out in a cold sweat because of the noises Johnny was making.

He finishes up soon after that, getting an extra rub in for good measure, and Mark wipes the excess sun screen onto his own arms.

“Thanks a ton Mark! And I had no idea you were so good with your hands! Now that I know you’re good at massages get ready for me to ask for one every night now!” Johnny smiles.

Jaehyun whispers, “I’m sure Mark won’t mind at all,” and gets smacked again by Sicheng.

Getting to hear those sounds come again from Johnny, all because of _him._ Getting to feel the firm muscles of Johnny’s back and seeing him shirtless every night. Yeah, Mark doesn’t mind one bit. Not one bit at all. His poor gay heart is totally not doing flips in his chest right now.

Yuta’s whistle rings out and they all get up from the grass and start heading for the field again. Mark jogs next to Johnny and they both smile at each other and shove each other around a bit. He tries to not focus on the way Johnny’s pecs-

“Taeil if you say ‘the grind never stops’ one more fucking time you’re sleeping on the couch tonight!”

“But Sicheng! The grind really never stops!”

“COUCH. TONIGHT.”

* * *

It’s early October when Mark misses his footing in a hole left behind by a gopher on the field and sprains his ankle.

The team had been doing drills that day and all was going fairly well. There was minimal shenanigans going on between the team members and Yuta was planning to end them early to have a practice game during the last bit of practice.

Mark was dribbling the ball when his foot got lodged into the hole and his whole body went forward. His knees hit the ground and Mark barely got his hands out in front of him in time so that he didn't get the wind knocked out of him by his chest slamming into the grass. 

He was going to simply get back up and continue what he was doing, Mark had fallen down before-they all pretty much had several times this year. It wasn’t uncommon for them to finish a practice or a game with their socks and shorts filled with dirt and grass stains. 

What was odd, though, was the way pain shot through Mark’s leg the minute he tried standing back up. He immediately fell back down to the ground and called for Yuta the best he could while his voice was strained from the pain.

There was Yuta’s loud whistle going off and immediately the practice stopped so that they could clear some room for Mark. Yuta got to him first and crouched down next to him.

“Which leg is it?” He asks.

Mark points to his right foot and Yuta helps him remove his shoes and pull down his socks. He does his best not to yell out in pain when the slightest movement feels like he’s being stabbed.

Yuta gently inspects Mark’s foot and he can already see the swelling.

“It looks like it’s going to be a sprain. It’s not too bad but it probably still hurts just the same. Jungwoo, can you bring him some ice please? The rest of you can start clearing up the cones and get ready for a practice game.”

Jungwoo runs off to get an ice pack, and Johnny walks up to Mark and the worried expression on his face nearly makes him cry.

“Yuta, let me take him to the nurse. We live together, so I can just take him home afterwards if that’s okay?”

Yuta nods, “yeah it’s fine. Just make sure that Mark takes care of himself properly. Also, no practice until your ankle gets better.” Mark groans in frustration. “We don’t want your injury getting worse by you being a stubborn idiot and possibly increasing your amount of time being out of commission. If Johnny has to strap you to your bed then I give him full permission to.”

Jungwoo returns with the ice pack and lets Mark apply it to his swollen ankle. It helps with the pain for a bit, but Mark knows that he needs to get it wrapped properly and he’ll most likely need crutches for a few days. That would definitely make getting around campus extremely annoying. 

“You should get him to the nurse, Mark needs to get that checked out properly as soon as possible. Can you carry him or do you want me to call someone over to take you guys?” Yuta asks.

Johnny shakes his head, “it’s fine, I can carry Mark over. Never missed a day of weightlifting so it’ll be no problem!”

Yuta chuckles and looks to Mark again, “and you better listen to what the nurse tells you. If I find out from Johnny that you aren’t listening I swear I’ll come to your guys’ apartment and yell at you myself.”

“Yuta, you wouldn’t hurt a fly!” Johnny exclaims.

“I wouldn’t hurt a fly, but I would hurt a dumbass! Anyways the both of you get out of here and update the group chat once Mark is at home resting.”

Yuta helps Mark get to his feet, there’s a bit of wincing and a pained whine that comes from Mark but once he’s upright Johnny is already crouched down for him to get on his back. 

Mark wraps his arms around Johnny’s neck and lets him secure his hands under his thighs. He tries not to think about how Johnny’s hands are so big they nearly cover his whole thigh. _Your ankle is sprained this is no time for horny thoughts Mark Lee!_

When Johnny stands up, Mark clings to him tighter and clamps his legs around his waist. 

“You don’t have to hold on so tight Mark, you’re not that heavy so this will be a piece of cake!”

“Sorry, I’ll try not to cut off your blood circulation before we get to the nurse.”

As Johnny carries Mark, he finds himself feeling drowsy and if it weren’t for the way his ankle was throbbing in pain he would’ve probably knocked out against Johnny’s back.

  
  


After about half an hour, Johnny and Mark leave the nurses office with Mark on crutches with his ankle wrapped up and strict instructions to not practice for two weeks. Johnny sends a picture of Mark standing with his crutches to the team group chat and Yuta responds with “press F to pay respect” causing the rest of the team to spam the chat.

Mark joins along with the jokes to smile through the pain of knowing that he’s going to be struggling majorly with these crutches. He can already see himself being late to all his classes and struggling with his backpack. On top of all of that the heat still wasn’t giving them a break, even though it was technically fall by now. His arms were going to feel sweaty and gross...Mark cringed at the thought of it.

Johnny takes pity on Mark and orders pizza for them, they’ve both had a long day. As they wait for the food to arrive, Mark attempts to peer edit his classmate's essay. He feels terrible for the person who received his essay because he knows that it wasn’t the best thing he could’ve written. 

“You know, at least your leg will be fine before the team sleepover!” Johnny says randomly.

“Team sleepover?” Mark asks.

“Yeah, it’s what Yuta and Jungwoo do every two months to help the team bond and stuff. In reality it’s a good excuse for them to have a party in their apartment and Jungwoo makes these really good Jell-O shots and edibles, and of course Taeil always wants to play ‘What are the odds’ because he loves the chaos of it all.”

“Jungwoo bakes edibles? Since when?” Mark asks, shocked because Jungwoo didn’t really seem like the type to even drink.

“Oh yeah he does, ever since he took cooking classes during our freshman year and his partner ended up teaching him how to make edibles. He’s always making all sorts of crazy stuff with alcohol and weed.”

“What’s the craziest thing that’s happened at one of these sleepovers?” Mark asks.

Johnny rubs his forehead, “let me think...it’s probably the sleepover where Jaehyun and Sicheng ate too many of Jungwoo’s brownies and had to be held back by Yuta because they were planning on going streaking. Sicheng threw a fit and bit Yuta, which he cried about once he was sober. Jaehyun got picked up by Doyoung after he got a Snapchat video of him crying because he missed him. Yeah, that night was just something else. Pro tip: don’t eat too many of Jungwoo’s brownies.”

Mark fell into a fit of laughter, “Sicheng _bit_ Yuta?! What did Taeil think of that?”

“Well, he said something along the lines of ‘it’s hard to see someone else live your dream’ and didn’t let him live it down for a couple of weeks. There were rabies shot jokes that ended up with Taeil getting tackled to the ground during practice and Yuta allowing it the first couple of times.”

The essay Mark was editing was abandoned for stories from the past, and when the pizza arrived they both ate until they were too full and ready to slip into a food coma. 

When it was time for bed, Johnny helped Mark settle into bed comfortably. He would never admit it out loud, but Mark didn’t mind how doting his friend was on him while he was injured.

The next few days, Mark didn’t have to lift a finger when he was around Johnny. His housemate made sure to let Mark rest his leg and not stay on his feet for too long. He even carried his bag for him even though Mark insisted that it was unnecessary, which was a total lie because Mark’s back definitely needed the break. 

A couple of his classmates noticed Johnny hanging around him more, and it definitely caused a few glances to be turned their way. Whenever Johnny had the chance, he would walk with Mark to his classes and carry his things for him. After the first couple of times, a classmate he had never spoken to and couldn’t remember the name of came up to him once the professor had dismissed them for the day.

“Hey, you’re Mark right?” the girl asked.

He nodded back, “yeah, I guess I am.”

The girl laughed and then said, “okay just wanted to make sure I had your name right. Anyways, I’m Joyce and I was wondering if your friend wasn’t seeing anyone at the moment because I kind of want to ask him out.”

“Oh you mean Johnny? Well, he isn’t seeing anyone right now and I don’t know if he’s interested in someone so I’ll let him know.”

The girl’s eyes light up and she grabs onto Mark’s hand, “would you really? Thank you so much! If you ever need a partner for a project or some notes, I’m here!”

With that, his classmate walks off and leaves Mark with a funny feeling brewing in his chest. Mark doesn’t enjoy it one bit but can’t really pinpoint exactly what it all means. 

Whatever, Mark decides to put off this existential crisis for later. His only priority now was to make it to his next class on time.

It isn’t until nighttime that his classmate's request pops back into Mark’s memory again. 

Johnny is in his room and Mark can hear the soft acoustic music that’s playing. He only ever played that kind of music if he was relaxing or reading a book.

Mark knocks on Johnny’s door, not wanting to barge in and disrupt something important, and he waits a few seconds before Johnny eventually opens the door.

“What’s up Mark?” Johnny asks.

“Are you busy right now? Like, with homework or studying for something?”

Johnny shakes his head, “nah, I’m not busy at the moment. Did you want to go somewhere?”

“No, I just wanted to ask you something that’s all,” Mark answers.

“Oh, what is it then?” 

Johnny goes to sit at his desk and helps Mark take a seat on his bed.

“Are you interested in anyone right now?” 

Johnny looks a bit taken back by Mark’s bluntness. “Uh...who’s asking?”

“Well it's just one of my classmates who came up to me after class and wants to ask you out, so she asked me to see if you were interested.”

“Oh,” Johnny starts, “well tell her that I’m sorry but I’m not looking to date anyone right now. I’m kind of in over my head about someone and it wouldn’t be fair to her.”

_Johnny’s interested in someone right now? But who? Is it someone on their team or someone in one of classes or-_

“Oh okay, I’ll let her know. She seemed cool, she offered to lend me notes for doing this favor for her.”

Johnny smirks, “well why don’t you ask her out then?”

Mark feels a light sting in his chest, like when hot oil bounces back onto his skin when he’s cooking, but he doesn’t know why. 

“No, she’s not really my type.” Mark laughs nervously.

“What is your type then? We’ve never discussed this, I just realized!” Johnny says excitedly.

“Well...I’m not really into girls so that’s a start.”

“I’m not either, I guess that makes two of us right?” Johnny jokes.

“yeah I guess you can say that, but I don’t really have a type? At least I don’t think I do. I mean Haechan says I have a thing for guys that are taller than me but I mean, maybe that’s true? I don’t know, I haven’t really thought of it that much...” Mark trails off.

“It’s okay to not know, maybe one day it’ll hit you when you least expect it, who knows! I didn’t mean to stress you out by asking you this, your face looks like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

Johnny pats his back gently and they quickly shift the conversation away from relationships and love to the shenanigans that ensued during practice that day. Mark laughs as he listens to Johnny tell him about how a few of the other freshmen pranked Jungwoo and scared him while he was in the bathroom and Yuta made them run laps. 

Mark went to sleep that night happy and not at all thinking about what qualities he really looked for in someone he wanted to date.

  
  
  


The next day when he relays the unfortunate news onto his classmate, she simply smiles and tells Mark that it’s okay.

“I mean it sucks a little bit but it’s not the end of the world! Man, whoever ends up dating him is so lucky he just oozes boyfriend material,” she says.

_Yeah,_ Mark thinks to himself. _Johnny really would be a good boyfriend_ , seeing how doting he was of Mark while he was injured. He could only imagine how Johnny would be like with his boyfriend. 

“Anyways, thanks for asking for me! I know some people wouldn’t even remember or anything but it was kind of you, even though we hardly know each other. Do you wanna exchange numbers just in case you ever need anything class related?”

Mark smiles, “yeah definitely. I’ve kind of been lost in this class and I don’t really know anyone else so it would be nice to have a friend in here.”

Joyce gives him her contact info, “it’s funny how I came to you looking for a possible relationship but I ended up with a friend instead. I think I like this outcome better.”

“It is really funny how that worked out,” Mark says. “Honestly, outside of the soccer team I don’t really talk to anyone else, which probably isn’t a good thing.”

“Oh don’t you worry about that, I think you’d get along with my other friends. I can introduce you if you want, we’re going to have this big Halloween party and you should totally come!” 

_A new friendship and an instant party invite? Why did I wait this long to make other friends? What the hell was I so nervous about?_

“I’m so down, hey maybe I’ll bring Johnny along too.”

His new friend laughs, “You stop that!”

  
  


* * *

  
  


The day the nurse gives Mark the green light on finally getting rid of the crutches, he couldn’t be happier. Although it was nice to have people doting on him and helping him out, Mark longed for the ability to go up a flight of stairs without taking 10 minutes to do so. 

That night, he and Johnny celebrated with a movie marathon. However, they don’t get past the first movie when Mark is distracted from the plot to see Johnny tip over and lay his head in his lap. He’s fast asleep and Mark doesn’t know what to do other than stare at the way his friend has made themselves at home on his thighs. 

Mark was caught in a dilemma, he couldn’t dare wake Johnny up. He looked so comfortable and waking people up from naps was just _rude._ Also, Johnny looked really soft and Mark kind of wanted to enjoy the moment a little more. Who knows if he would ever get to experience something this soft and wholesome ever again. He gently pulls his phone out of his back pocket and takes a picture of Johnny sleeping in his lap. When Mark decides to send the picture to the team group chat, all hell breaks loose and his phone is spammed with notifications.

_TAEIL: NO WAY IS THAT JOHNNY_

_JUNGWOO: Awww he looks so cute!!! He’s curled up like a cat_ 😽

_SICHENG: that’s a whole Baby right there_

_JAEHYUN: you two are so domestic it feels like you’re an old married couple sometimes_

_JUNGWOO: omg I thought the same thing!!! Are you sure you two aren’t Mark 👀_

_TAEIL: Mark is literally Johnny’s baby while at the same time being the biggest baby himself_

_JAEHYUN: time to change mark’s name in the chat to “Johnny’s baby” who’s down_

_TAEIL: me_

_SICHENG: me_

_JUNGWOO: me_

_YUTA: what goes on_

_JUNGWOO: just go along with it babe don’t worry_

_YUTA: ...._

_YUTA: okay I guess, also Johnny does look like a big cat how cute_

_JUNGWOO: don’t worry babe you’re the only cat I need in my life_ 😽

_TAEIL: ew okay enough of you two this is about the Johnny and Mark agenda now_

_MARK: I’m literally right here_

_JAEHYUN has changed MARK to JOHNNY’S BABY_

_JAEHYUN: you were saying?_

_JOHNNY’S BABY: I’m off the crutches, watch your back at practice tomorrow._

_TAEIL: FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT_

_YUTA: no fighting on the field_

_JAEHYUN: THANK you_

_YUTA: in the locker rooms however, go crazy go stupid I don’t care_

_JAEHYUN:_ 😰😰😰

  
  


Mark put his phone down. It still vibrates with notifications from the group chat but he chose to ignore them and focused on the way Johnny shifted in his sleep and had now clung tightly onto one of Mark’s legs.

He hesitated for a few moments, was it okay to put his hand in Johnny’s hair? Was that weird? Did it blur a few boundaries in their friendship? What if he woke up and how could Mark possibly explain what he was doing without dying from the embarrassment that would come from admitting that Johnny’s sleepy state triggered all these warm and sappy feelings inside of him that made him want to dote on Johnny the way he had doted on Mark while he was injured.

How the fuck could he explain that and then tack a “no homo” at the end of his monologue about how soft Johnny’s skin and hair felt against his legs. That was the gayest thought Mark has ever had in his whole life, there was nothing in existence that could cancel out his fatass crush on Johnny. 

In the midst of his crisis, Johnny had snuggled into Mark and the way his breath puffed out against his skin made goosebumps spread up his spine. Mark was going to die and it was going to be Johnny’s fault. If Johnny wasn’t so cute and nice and friendly and always there for Mark when he needed him and just the overall image of a perfect boyfriend, Mark wouldn’t be here right now. 

When Johnny said that realizing his ideal type would come unexpectedly, he wouldn’t expect it to happen in such an earth shattering way. It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine, and Mark didn’t feel like he had cleared through any obstacles. Instead he felt like he wanted to cry or scream or both, and he felt like he had made his life harder by deciding that Johnny was what he wanted. This was his _friend_ and they _lived together_ and were on the _same team_ and if things went wrong it would be so painfully awkward.

There was no way Mark was going to say anything to anyone about this. He couldn’t put his words together and throw this realization into the universe. As long as he stayed quiet and suppressed all these feelings he had, the universe would remain undisturbed by Mark. 

That’s how these things worked, right?  
  


An hour later, Mark has started another movie and he feels Johnny stirring in his sleep. 

He keeps his emotions guarded and hopes that his facial expression is as neutral as he can make it as Mark watches Johnny get up from his lap and stretch out his arms. His friend lets out a big yawn and smacks his lips together, “oh no…did I really sleep through the first movie? I was excited to see it too,” Johnny says in a sleepy voice.

_Don’t think about how hot Johnny’s voice sounds when he’s just woken up and it’s all deep and rumbly like the way a cat purrs in it’s sleep, don’t think about how you wouldn’t mind him whispering sweet nothings in your ear in said deep voice and definitely don’t think about how you wouldn’t mind listening to his voice for the rest of your life._ Mark repeated this mantra in his head so many times that he didn’t notice the way Johnny was staring at him in an attempt to get his attention.

“Mark, are you okay?” Johnny asks.

He snaps out of his trance almost immediately, “oh yeah I’m totally fine! I’m just tired and…yeah, I’m just really tired!”

Johnny squints at him, “okay…are you sure? You’re acting kind of weird Mark.”

“Yeah I’m fine! Actually, I think I’m just going to call it a night now. I’m just really tired and I should probably just go to sleep soon.”

Mark quickly gets up from the couch and walks into his room, shutting the door behind him. He doesn’t give one last look at Johnny and just mumbles a quick goodnight to his house mate. He doesn’t see the way Johnny looks at him with a bit of confusion and a form of longing that Mark would vehemently deny that Johnny would ever look at him in that way. 

* * *

A week goes by, and then it becomes two and suddenly Mark’s classmate is confirming if he’s going to the halloween party tomorrow and he figures why not go and have some fun for a night. He wasn’t really planning on doing anything else and Johnny would be busy prepping for a presentation he had the next day. 

“But I don’t have a costume yet!” Mark says.

“Oh honey don’t worry,” Joyce says, “just go as like a cat or something, no one is really going to care. This party is just an excuse for all of us to get wasted. I even have cat ears if you wanna borrow them!”

Well, it looks like Mark was going to go to his first college party in a pair of cat ears dotted with rhinestones. That was going to be interesting.

  
  
  
  


“Stay safe Mark,” Johnny told him for the tenth time that night.

“I know Johnny I know, don’t do anything stupid and whatever else. You told me that like five minutes ago.”

“Seriously Mark, if you need me to pick you up I will, I’m probably going to be up late tonight so you won’t be waking me up or anything.”

Mark nods and smiles at his friend (crush, object of his affection, etc.) “I promise I’ll call you if anything goes wrong. I’m not even going to drink that much, I know how to keep myself together.”

“Okay Mark, I just don’t want you to get hurt or worse…your parents would kill me. Also, the cat ears look cute on you by the way.” 

Mark tries (but fails terribly) to ignore the way Johnny smirking at him makes a whole cluster of butterflies run rampant in his stomach. 

  
  
  
  


He’s only been at the halloween party for an hour and Mark has already drank much more than he initially planned. It’s not his fault though, everything looked so good and he just wanted to have fun. Mark is currently sitting on a lawn chair in the backyard of the house the party is being held in, there’s a game of beer pong going on a few feet away from him and he’s slowly taking sips of whatever the hell was in the huge punch bowl in the kitchen that is now being sloshed around in his red solo cup. 

Joyce is sitting next to him with two more of her friends, they’ve all been really welcoming and they are currently sharing funny videos with each other. 

“Hey, once those guys finish up their game do you want to have a beer pong game of our own? It would be so much fun and I’ll easily beat you!” Joyce says.

Mark’s competitive side has been encouraged by all the alcohol he’s drunk, “oh we’ll see about that!”

  
  
  
  


Mark is a _fool_. A very drunk fool and after winning the game of beer pong he proceeded to drink more and now he was in one of the bathrooms puking his guts out. His friends were behind him rubbing his back and having water already on standby for him whenever he finished throwing up. It burned his throat and his nose and Mark just knew he looked like a hot mess. 

“No more drinks for you Mark, I don’t want Johnny to kill me,” Joyce says.

_Johnny. Johnny was currently home doing work and maybe thinking about Mark coming home safely, right?_

When Mark is _finally_ done puking, he washes his face and drinks the water his friends have for him like he hasn’t seen a drop of it in years. 

“I need to call Johnny…he told me to if I needed to get home…where’s my phone…”

He feels his back pocket and clumsily pulls out his phone. Mark struggles a bit to unlock it and barely manages to call the right person with the help of his friends. Johnny picks up the call at the second ring and Mark can hear the soft music he plays when he’s doing work in the background. 

“Hey Mark is everything okay?” Johnny says softly.

“No…I threw up and I’m drunk and want hot wings. I want hot wings and sprite…..and fruity pebbles…yeah…” Mark trails off.

He hears Johnny burst into laughter on the other end, “Oh my gosh, okay, um just tell me the address and I’ll go pick you up.” 

“Oh man where am I? Joyce, where am I right now? Johnny needs to know!” He exclaims.

“Alright you drunk baby give me the phone so I can tell Johnny where you are,” she answers.

“No! I want to be the one to tell him!”

“Mark you’re drunk, just hand me the phone or put me on speaker,” Joyce says a bit exasperated.

Mark doesn’t hand over his phone but settles for putting it on speakerphone. Joyce manages to tell Johnny the address of the home the party is taking place at with Mark repeating exactly what she had just said. When the phone call ends, they all accompany Mark outside and wait with him while Johnny is on his way.

As they’re sitting on the front lawn, Mark leans towards Joyce, “hey…can you keep a secret?” He whispers to his friend.

“What’s this about Mark?” She smiles at him.

“Okay so don’t tell Johnny! You have to promise you’ll keep my secret, okay?” Mark says firmly.

“You don’t have to worry Mark, I won’t tell him anything unless you tell me to.”

Mark makes Joyce pinky swear on it and the both of them giggle about it.

“Okay, okay I trust you now. So basically I kind of have a crush on Johnny and like…living with him is so hard! I have to literally see him all the time and I can’t do anything!” Mark whines.

Joyce rubs his back, “oh you poor thing, at least lucky for you Johnny is into guys.”

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean he’s into me, why would he even be into me you know? Like…I’m just his friend and he isn’t going to see me in that way and it’s all just so sad!”

Mark covers his face with his hands and whimpers. His friend takes pity on him and pulls him in for a side hug.

“Mark…you don’t know that though. You can’t just make assumptions about how Johnny feels, that’s not fair to you or to him. I think talking to him wouldn’t go as badly as you think it will. Just like you said, he’s your friend and he shouldn’t be mean to you about your feelings for him, and if he is I will literally fight him for you.”

At that moment, a car pulls up to the front of the house and the small group looks up to see who has just arrived. Mark immediately recognizes Johnny and he feels his heart beat violently in his chest.

He turns to whisper to his friends, “oh my _gosh_ that’s Johnny.”

Joyce laughs, “yeah it is, isn’t it? It’s almost like we called him to pick you up and now he’s here! Now get up and go get your man Mark, we are all rooting for you!”

Mark gets to his feet with a bit of struggling, but he eventually stands up straight and meets Johnny halfway. His friend looks a bit tired but there’s a concerned expression on his face that makes Mark want to cry again.

“Are you okay Mark?” Is the first thing Johnny says to him.

“Yeah? I mean I threw up, like, a lot but I don’t feel like I’m going to again so…” 

Johnny smiles, “okay, that’s good at least. I’ll make sure to drive slow so you don’t get car sick. Did you still want hot wings?”

“Of course I do! I’m starving and it’s not like I can eat you instead.” 

Mark laughs nervously, wanting to beat his own ass for saying something so moronic. _Mark you colossal dumbass, if you were sober you would be cringing from embarrassment right now._

“Okay Mark, I can tell you’re still drunk. Can you walk to the car or do you need me to carry you the few feet we have left?”

“Carry me, please?” Mark pouts, “I miss having you carry me around, I might have to break my leg for real just so you will again.”

Johnny hauls up Mark onto his back, “there’s definitely no need for that, hopefully when you aren’t drunk anymore you’ll remember that you don’t have to be embarrassed to ask me for stuff.”

“But I can’t help but be embarrassed! Have you ever even looked at yourself Johnny?” Mark responds.

The walk to the car is slow and steady, Johnny doesn’t want Mark to get light headed from too much movement.

“What do you mean Mark?” He asks.

“No, I can’t say. I’ve said too much.”

“Are you really not going to tell me Mark?”

Mark shakes his head, “I can’t tell you! It’s a big secret and I just can’t say it! I don’t want to talk anymore.”

Johnny chuckles, “Okay, you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. But you’ll need to talk when we go get those hot wings, I need to know what to order for you.”

The minute Johnny gets Mark into his car, he knocks out and starts snoring lightly. Even though he’s fast asleep, Johnny still gets him his food.

And if Johnny spends a few minutes looking at Mark’s sleeping form when they’re back home and he’s tucked into bed, well that’s something that will stay between Johnny and the four walls of Mark’s room.

  
  
  


Mark throws up again the next morning, and he skips his morning classes to recover from his hangover. Before Johnny leaves their apartment, he brings him some water, warm food, and medicine to help him get through it. Mark has to hold back the urge to drag Johnny into his bed and kiss him, not wanting him to leave his side.

* * *

The day before the team sleepover, Yuta gathers them all in a circle to discuss the plans.

“Alright so, at our place Jungwoo has already baked his brownies and even splurged on making some tiramisu. I don’t have a lot of alcohol after the last sleepover so if you really want to drink you’ll have to bring your own stuff. Bring all your stuff and blankets and pillows. You know, things you need to sleep. If someone could just bring napkins I guess? We tend to never have enough of those. Other than that, the sleepover starts at 6 PM at mine and Jungwoo’s apartment.”

The team disperses after Yuta’s announcement and Mark walks with Johnny and Jaehyun back to the locker rooms. Everyone was in high spirits, the locker room was loud and rowdy with all the team members discussing the party games they wanted to do. 

“I’m not going to drink at this sleepover, I’m still traumatized from the halloween party.” Mark tells Johnny when they’re walking back to their apartment. 

“At least have one of Jungwoo’s jello shots, they taste great and he’ll be sad if not everyone appreciates them.”

“Okay…I _guess_ having one wouldn’t hurt.”

The afternoons are getting darker and colder quicker now. It’s only 6 PM and the sky is pretty much pitch black at this point. There's few people walking around and Mark can feel the cold wind through his sweater. 

“I love and hate how the time changed. When it gets dark so early it just makes me want to sleep, but it’s only 6 PM and it would be weird to end the day so early.”

Johnny nods, “yeah, and the cold weather just makes me want to wear big sweaters and cuddle someone, you know?”

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” Mark answers. “It would be nice to have someone you could do that with.”

“Yeah.”

They walk in silence up the flight of stairs to their front door. Mark is running through that awkward ass conversation he and Johnny just had and internally screaming at how terrible he is at keeping his cool around Johnny lately. What does he mean that he enjoys snuggling with someone to keep warm? Why did he have to bring it up now to Mark of all people? Did Johnny see through Mark and realize that he had a big fat crush on him and was now purposely messing with him? His mind was spiraling and Mark just wanted it to stop.

“Is your leg giving you any problems at practice?” Johnny asks Mark once they’re inside.

“Nah, I just need to get back in shape. Even though it wasn’t too long that I was out of commission I feel so out of it at the end of each practice.”

“I figured that would happen, if you ever need anything you can ask me Mark. You know that right?”

Mark looks up at his friend and he finds it hard to read his expression.

“Yeah I know, thanks Johnny.”

“I mean it Mark, even if it doesn’t have to do with soccer. If you ever need anything you can come to me.”

Johnny’s protectiveness, the way he wants to take care of the people close to him, it makes Mark’s knees go weak and he feels a pain in his chest. It hurts all too much to keep pretending like he doesn’t like his friend and pretending like he isn’t affected by just him existing near him. 

Mark forces a nonchalant smile, “don’t worry, I will Johnny.”

When they both go into their separate rooms for the night, Mark is still thinking about how much he’s hopelessly infatuated with Johnny and how he wishes he wasn’t so awkward. It keeps him up all night and Mark tries to do some homework to distract himself but it’s all in vain when he just stares at his computer screen for half an hour without even typing anything into his blank word document. He decides that maybe a late night snack might help put him to sleep, so Mark steps out of his room to see what he can put together quietly. 

As he passes by Johnny’s room, he hears faint noises that pique his interest. He wonders if Johnny is having a nightmare and Mark presses his ear against Johnny’s door gently.

What Mark doesn’t expect to hear is Johnny’s voice deep and like molten chocolate letting out the deepest moans that make his blood chill. He knows that he should pull himself away from the door and go into the kitchen and mind his own business, but Mark finds himself unable to pull away and he just stands there and listens to Johnny get himself off at 1 in the morning.

Mark feels like a total creep, he feels like a hopeless fool and he hates that he’s getting worked up so quickly over something that’s so wrong. When Johnny’s voice turns into quick pants for air, Mark finally finds the strength to distance himself from the door and make a beeline back to his room.

He doesn’t have any late night snacks and instead stays up until 4 AM rutting against his pillow thinking about what he just heard and hoping that it’ll be enough for him to forget all about it in the morning.

* * *

Mark wakes up the next morning feeling exhausted and sticky in between his legs. He groans as he sits up in bed and the memories from last night hit him like a freight truck. There was no way he could look Johnny in the eye and it sucked even more for Mark that he couldn’t just avoid his problems when they lived a few feet away from him. 

He gets up and quickly changes out of his cum stained boxers, he hides them in the pile of his dirty clothes that’s sitting in a laundry bin in the corner of his room. Although he physically feels a lot better now that he’s in fresh clothes, he can’t get over the fact that he actually did _that_ last night and he hates that he would do it again in a heartbeat.

Breakfast goes as usual, and by usual it now consists of Mark trying to feign sleepiness so that it can cover up the fact that he can barely formulate coherent sentences for him to say to his friend, who has decided to start off today of all days shirtless. Great, absolutely fucking fantastic. Mark was totally 100% not panicking in his seat over how buff Johnny was and how he could probably pick him up and manhandle him without breaking a sweat. 

They talk about mindless things while they pack their stuff for the team sleepover. Making sure that they have enough blankets and pillows and a change of clothes for the next day. He even throws in an extra hoodie because the nights are getting colder as the days pass. Mark tries not to think about what Johnny said about cold nights and having the desire to cuddle someone for warmth. 

The keyword being that he _tries._

Once the sun starts setting, Johnny and Mark get into his car and drive over to Yuta and Jungwoo’s place. They blast the radio loud and for a few minutes, Mark is calm and forgets about his romantic dilemma. He just focuses on the music coming out of the speakers and the way the sky looks so magical when the sun is setting. 

When they arrive, they already see Sicheng’s car parked in the lot and a few of the other freshmen walking towards the apartment. Mark feels the excitement build up in his chest and he can’t wait for the sleepover to start. It’s been a stressful month and he just wants to kick back and relax with his teammates, and maybe get to see what all the hype was surrounding Jungwoo’s baking skills.

He and Johnny make their way to the apartment and Mark feels chills run down his arms as a light breeze picks up. Johnny notices the way he shivers and he picks up their pace so that they can make it inside and away from the cold sooner. 

Taeil is the one who opens the door for him and he already has a red cup filled halfway with whatever alcohol was probably being served in the kitchen.

“Hey guys! We were just about to start drinking and Yuta has this like, huge bong in the living room that Jungwoo is packing. Alcohol choices are kind of limited, there’s Vodka and fruit punch and I think some cases of beer too? Anyways, everyone’s already put their stuff in the spare bedroom and pizza and wings are on the way.”

Mark perks up at hearing there’s going to be wings, and Johnny gently guides him to the spare bedroom.

They find Jaehyun in there talking on the phone with his boyfriend, and he waves to them with a big smile on his face. They let him continue his conversation and make their way back to the kitchen where everyone else is filling up their cups with alcohol. Taeil and Sicheng are already downing their drinks and Mark is about to pour himself his own drink when Johnny interrupts him.

“Here, let me mix it for you. I know how to make a nice drink, not to suck my own dick or anything.”

Mark smirks, “well lets see about that then.”

Johnny gets to work and while he’s preparing their drinks he sees the tray full of colorfully decorated brownies on the counter.

Jungwoo smiles at him, “Do you want one Markie? I hope the decorations on them look cute. I've never really dressed them up like this because everyone here just swallows them down and doesn’t appreciate the effort I put into them.” 

“They look so cool! I’ve never seen edibles so pretty before, I’ll have one right now if that’s okay?” Mark says.

“Of course it's okay! Please take one and make sure to pace yourself, we don’t need anyone else getting bitten this time around.”

Sicheng whines from across the room and the rest of the team laughs. Mark takes a brownie and slowly works his way through it. When Johnny hands him his drink, he’s already halfway through and decides to wait a bit for it to hit him. 

The team starts drinking and there’s music blaring through a bluetooth speaker in the living room. By the time the food arrives, half of the soccer team is already tipsy and Mark can feel the effects of the edible slowly creep in. Johnny hasn’t left his side since he handed him the drink he made for him, which tasted phenomenal. He almost couldn’t taste the alcohol in it and Mark feels a rush of gratefulness for his friend.

“Johnny…you’re like…the best guy ever.” Mark starts.

His friend chuckles, “you feeling okay there Mark? Did Jungwoo’s edibles finally get to you?”

Mark nods, “I only had half but I can already feel my eyelashes. I just feel so warm and like…I wanna wrap myself in a blanket fresh from the dryer you know?”

“Yes, I know what you mean. You’re giving off the biggest baby energy right now.”

Mark giggles and leans into Johnny’s side, the latter bringing up their arm and wrapping it around Mark’s shoulders, bringing him in even closer.

“If I can’t have a fresh blanket, I guess you’ll do for now. You’re so soft and warm and you smell really good Johnny. Why don’t we cuddle all the time?” 

Before Johnny can answer, Taeil gets in front of them and reaches for their arms.

“Come on guys! We’re gonna start playing what are the odds and everyone is participating, whether you like it or not!”

The two of them get up and are led back into the kitchen by Taeil, they see the rest of the team sitting around the dinner table pouring themselves more drinks and getting rowdier by the second.

“Okay everyone shut up!” Jungwoo announces loudly. “Does everyone know the rules of the game or do I have to explain it?”

A freshman raises their hand and says they don’t know how to play and Jungwoo nods.

“Okay so, how we play it is we’re gonna spin this empty beer bottle and the first person it lands on will get asked a question and the second person it lands on is going to be the one asking said question. Once that all happens the first person is going to say a number to the person sitting next to them and the second person has to guess what are the odds of them doing what they asked and if they guess the right number, they have to fulfill the request. You can opt out of it but you’ll have to take a shot. I’m not repeating myself so hopefully that all settled into your drunk ass brains.”

Jungwoo takes a seat in Yuta’s lap and Sicheng reaches for the bottle to do the first spin. It lands on Jaehyun and everyone hollers loudly. 

As the game progresses, the entire team gradually gets drunker and the dares get more and more ridiculous. Jaehyun was first asked to mix mustard and soy sauce in vodka and swallow it. Thankfully for him, the numbers didn’t match up and he was spared putting that monstrosity down his throat. A freshman ends up prank calling their coach and everyone is too drunk to keep their voices down and it ruins the prank. Sicheng opted out from giving Taeil a lap dance in front of everyone, but when Taeil was asked to do the same he was drunk enough to enthusiastically grind in his boyfriend's lap until the couple was pulled apart. 

The bottle had only landed on Mark three times, only one of them where he was the one being asked to do something embarrassing. So far, he was spared anything that would be too humiliating but he was still expecting it to happen. 

So when the bottle landed on him after what seemed like forever, he held his breath and waited to see who it would be that would give him his challenge.

Mark gives the bottle a good spin and watches as it slowly lands on Jaehyun, who has a pink face from all the alcohol and he’s sporting a mischievous grin.

“Hmm…..Mark, Mark, Mark…what are the odds that you do a jello shot off of Johnny’s abs?”

Everyone bursts into giggles, meanwhile Mark chokes on his own breath and Johnny covers his face with his hands.

“We don’t even have jello shot here though? So how am I supposed to do that?” Mark says nervously.

“They’re in the fridge! Oh my gosh I can’t believe I forgot to take them out after I spent so much time on them!” Jungwoo adds.

“Come on Mark, what’s it going to be?” Jaehyun teases.

Mark looks to Sicheng who is sitting next to him, eyeing his cup mysteriously. He leans in and whispers a number into his ear and Sicheng gasps.

“Are the odds really that high?!” Sicheng whispers back.

Mark shushes him loudly and Sicheng laughs, “I’m just saying! But I mean I’m not really surprised at this point.”

Jaehyun counts down to three and then shouts out his answer.

“Nine!”

Sicheng nods his head and Mark feels himself sobering up all of a sudden.

“Woah did I really guess that right?! And a nine too! What even is the point of making this a kind of dare when you’re so willing to do it.”

They pull the jello shots out of the fridge and Johnny is instructed to lay back on the kitchen table with his shirt pulled up. Mark tries, but fails, to avoid staring at Johnny’s defined abs, but the edible and the alcohol is doing things to his brain and his thoughts are spiraling into a horny abyss of all kinds of trouble.

A jello shot is placed on Johnny’s stomach, who flinches when the cold jelly makes contact with his skin. Mark is pushed in front of him and his palms are clammy and he’s so nervous about fucking it all up. Jungwoo pulls up his phone to record and everyone starts chanting Mark’s name.

He looks at Johnny one last time, who gives him a wink in return that only amplifies Mark’s nervousness. When he finally leans down to suck up the Jello shot, Mark misses and ends up pressing his lips directly onto Johnny’s skin.

_Damn it Mark, you shouldn’t have gotten cross faded. Now you’re over here kissing way too close to Johnny’s dick right in front of everyone. Fantastic._

Mark goes in again, and he latches onto the jello shot this time but drops it back onto Johnny’s stomach a few times before finally swallowing it down. He sits right back into his chair and covers his face so that no one can see how flustered he got. Jungwoo yells about how he got it all on video and sends it into the group chat for everyone to replay. By the time Mark is done hiding, Johnny has already returned to his seat and when he looks up to make eye contact with Jaehyun, he simply mouths a ‘you’re welcome’ to Mark and winks at him.

_Of all people, why did Jaehyun have to be the one that realized the full extent of his crush on Johnny?_

The game continues with more drinks and when the bottle lands on Johnny, Mark feels a bit nervous for some reason.

The bottle then lands on Yuta and he’s about to give his dare out when Jungwoo interrupts and pulls him in to whisper something in his ear. They exchange a few more words before Yuta turns back to Johnny with the same mischievous look that Jaehyun had with Mark.

“Johnny, what are the odds of you going into the coat closet for seven minutes…with Mark.” 

The team gets rowdier and Mark is jostled around by Sicheng, it seemed like everyone was plotting against Mark and he was about ready to pop a blood vessel from how stressed he was. He could barely handle being in the same apartment as Johnny and now he was being thrown into a tiny closet with him, and Mark could never emotionally prepare himself enough for this. 

Johnny whispers his number to the freshman sitting next to him and at the count of three, Yuta shouts out the number ten.

No one had guessed the number ten the whole night, and Mark breathed a sigh of relief because there was no way that Yuta had guessed it right.

Mark is confident that he’s dodged a bullet, until the freshman covers his mouth with his hands and Johnny gets up from his seat.

Yuta laughs, “I guess it’s the coat closet for the both of you! We’ll let you guys out once the timer is done, don’t have too much fun in there!”

Mark feels like his body is running on autopilot as he follows Johnny into the coat closet. A few members of the team follow behind to make sure they actually go inside and as the door shuts behind them, Mark is enveloped in pitch darkness and the feeling of utter dread. There was no way he was going to make it out of this closet with his dignity. 

Johnny laughs nervously and Mark can hear him feeling along the wall, “there has to be a light switch in here, I remember it being somewhere along here…”

Mark swallows and feels how dry his throat is, his hands are shaking and when Johnny finally finds the light switch, his heart jumps when the light shows him how close they are to each other.

“There we go, that’s a bit better right?”

Mark nods and looks down.

“Are you okay? You haven’t really said anything…are you feeling sick or anything?” Johnny asks.

“N-no! I’m not feeling sick!” Mark responds.

“But I’m right about there being something wrong, am I?”

Mark looks up at his friend and sees a concerned expression on his face that makes him want to cry.

“Nothing’s wrong Johnny-“

“You can be honest with me Mark, nothing’s gonna hurt me,” Johnny tells him.

If Mark was sober, he wouldn’t be letting all these words come out of his mouth, “I know that Johnny, I’m worried about hurting myself.”

“Why would you get hurt? What’s going on?”

Mark chokes up, “I can’t tell you because then you won’t want to be my friend anymore and everything is gonna be ruined and I’m going to have to move out and even though it kinda sucks the way things are right now at least it’s better than you never talking to me again.”

Johnny wraps his arms around Mark’s shaking form and pulls him to his chest. Mark clings to him tightly and takes in the smell of Johnny’s rich cologne. It comforts him and Johnny is just so warm and gentle it makes Mark melt against him.

“Nothing could make me hate you Mark, I like you too much to ever let that happen,” Johnny says softly.

Mark whines and feels tears run down his face, “that’s so unfair! You can’t just say shit like that to me! Not when I’ve had a crush on you for so long and already accepted the fact that you’re never gonna like me back. Don’t play with my feelings like that, it's cruel.”

He tries to pull away from Johnny, but instead ends up with two hands cupping his cheeks and being made to face Johnny.

“I’m not messing with you Mark, I really feel like I like you too much for my own good…”

Mark doesn’t miss the way Johnny’s eyes go from his nose to his lips.

“You’re really not lying to me right now?” Mark asks in a soft voice.

“If I was lying…would I do this?”

Mark takes a sharp intake of breath when Johnny moves in closer, their lips are millimeters away from touching and they’re sharing each other’s breaths at this point. He reaches for Johnny’s shirt and holds on tight, shutting his eyes and feeling Johnny press his lips softly against his. 

It’s everything Mark’s been wanting for _months._ For endless nights Mark had fantasized about the way they would confess and live happily ever after with two dogs in a cute house. Although they were cramped in a tiny coat closet that was getting way too hot to be in now, Mark felt like he was in heaven. A whine built up in the back of his throat when he feels Johnny pull away from their first kiss.

“…was that okay?” Johnny asks him.

“It was okay…but it would’ve been better if you didn’t stop kissing me,” Mark responds.

“Well that can be arranged, how much time do you think we have left?” 

Mark laughs, “who cares? How much do you want to bet that they’ve turned off the timer after we got shut in here?”

“You know what, you have a point. Why don’t we make the most of the time that we have left in here?”

Mark pouts, “are you saying you won’t want to kiss me anymore once we’re out of here? How mean-“

Johnny ends his sentence for him with another kiss, followed by a series of more kisses and soon enough Mark has lost count. His mind was fuzzy, completely consumed by the way Johnny was sucking gently on his bottom lip and Mark loved it. 

When Johnny flipped them around to push Mark up against the door, the kisses between them became more open-mouthed and desperate. Their hands were running everywhere, and Mark gasped when he felt Johnny’s hands go underneath his shirt and hold onto his waist.

“…you’re so tiny,” Johnny says in between kisses.

“No I’m not,” Mark breaths back.

“It’s cute though, I can literally hold you in my hands.”

Mark tries to ignore the way that comment makes his dick twitch. There was no way he was going to let Johnny feel the way he was already about to cream his pants over a few minutes of kissing.

So when Johnny slots a leg in between his thighs, it knocks the air out of him and the added friction has Mark clawing Johnny’s back.

They don’t speak anymore, and Mark is thankful because he couldn’t form a thought, let alone a sentence, if he tried. The both of them slowly rock against each other, soft whines and moans are uttered into the very small space in between them. With Johnny’s grip around his waist, Mark is guided against his thigh and all Mark can do is cling to his shoulders to keep himself together.

The moment is perfect, and Mark is about to let himself get lost in it, when the door is abruptly swung open and the two of them go tumbling to the ground.

“Oh shit sorry guys-see! I told you we shouldn’t have bothered them! Oh my gosh I’m sorry for interrupting you guys, but I mean there’s a spare room if you guys want!” 

Mark rubs his shoulders and groans, and Johnny is still splayed on top of him trying to catch his breath.

“Jungwoo…how long were we in there?” Mark asks in a strained voice.

“Like twenty minutes maybe? I don’t know but Yuta was complaining about you two making a mess in there so he told me to get you guys out even though I said it would be rude, and I was right!”

“It’s okay Jungwoo,” Johnny says. “Mark and I will definitely have more time in the future, we do live together you know.”

“Oh my gosh…you’re right,” Jungwoo says with a smile spreading on his face, “well, the big sleeping pile is already being made since Taeil and Sicheng knocked out early. We’ll all be in the living room when you two are ready to come back.”

Jungwoo walks away from them and in the distance they can hear their team instructing each other on how to construct the most perfect pile of blankets. 

Johnny gets up first, wincing slightly and rubbing at his knees, he reaches for Mark’s hand to pull him up and he can already feel the bruise that’s going to be on his lower back tomorrow. He doesn’t let go of Mark’s hand and they both look at each other.

“So…” Mark starts.

“Does this, you know…”

“I mean, like, only if you want to…”

“I do.”

“Oh wow, well, then I guess that means…?”

The two of them break out in giggles. Mark leans forward into Johnny’s chest and feels his arms wrap around his shoulders. When he looks up at him, Johnny is already smiling down at him.

“Do you want to be my boyfriend, Mark?” He asks.

Mark’s cheeks hurt from how hard he’s smiling, “yeah, I think that would be the best thing ever.” 

Johnny brings his head down to give Mark one last kiss before they join the rest of the team, and if it turns into four more “last” kisses it’s no one’s business but theirs.  
  
  
  


After spending a good half an hour helping with making the huge sleeping pile on the living room floor without bothering an already knocked out Sicheng and Taeil, they all finally finish and start claiming their spots. Yuta and Jungwoo join in despite having their own bedroom a few feet away, Jungwoo insisting that it was part of the bonding experience. Mark ends up next to Yuta with Johnny on his other side petting his hair gently.

“You two didn’t make a mess in the coat closet, right?” He eyes Mark suspiciously.

“We didn’t! If anything we got hurt once Jungwoo opened the door and I fell on my ass!”

Someone from across the pile shushes them, “Okay, okay we’ll go to sleep now, goodnight Mark.”

Several murmurs of goodnight are shared among the team, and slowly they all fall asleep. Mark turns to Johnny, who is scrolling through something on his phone, and wriggles a bit closer into his space. Johnny quickly accommodates him by bringing an arm around him and enveloping Mark in his soft scent and warmth from his body. 

If there was a heaven on earth, being in Johnny’s arms would be it, Mark decides.

* * *

Mark’s life at the moment feels like it can be split into two parts, a time before the team sleepover and a time after the team sleepover. 

It was really dramatic and just a result of the honeymoon phase that was going on between him and Johnny, but could Mark be blamed for it?

The morning after the sleepover was the beginning of the abrupt change in Mark’s life and routine. Being with Johnny made him feel like he was seeing the world through a soft, glowy filter like the ones on Snow. Any minor inconvenience that occurs throughout the day can’t bring Mark down when he knows that in the apartment waiting for him is his sweet boyfriend who’s ready to give Mark all his love and affection.

His friends notice the change in his behavior immediately, his friend Joyce gives him a high five after he tells her everything that happened over the weekend and congratulates him on his new boyfriend. 

Mark knows that his constant overflow of happiness is a little infuriating but he can’t be bothered to worry about it when he’d rather think about how cute Johnny looks when they’re taking a nap together. Why waste time being upset over anything when it can easily be remedied by a few minutes of cuddling with Johnny?

He feels like he’s on top of the world, and Mark walks to class with a smile on his face and a spring in his step. Practice is exciting because Mark knows that he’ll get to see his boyfriend and play soccer with his teammates. Even though he has a lot of deadlines coming up and he should be crying from stress, for some reason Mark feels like he has his shit together. Everything in his life is going perfect and Mark feels really thankful for all the amazing things he has now.

It’s two weeks after the sleepover that Johnny walks into Mark’s room, freshly showered and ready for bed.

“Mark, do you want to go on a date with me this weekend?”

He looks up from the document he was reading on his laptop, “you know, you don’t have to ask. I’d really like to go on a date Johnny.”

“I know but I just want to make sure you don’t have other things going on that would mess up your schedule. We can go somewhere nice and just be alone together, how does that sound?” Johnny asks.

“Don’t tell me exactly where we’re going. I want it to be a little surprise! Just tell me if I should dress casual or a bit fancier.”

Seeing the enthusiasm on Mark’s face makes Johnny smile, “definitely casual, just wear something you know you’ll be comfortable in.”

“Okay! I’ll be looking forward to our date all week. It’ll definitely motivate me to get this paper done in time even though I really don’t want to do it.” 

Johnny walks over to Mark’s bed and leans over to kiss him on the top of his head, “you got this baby, I believe in you! When you’re done you can come and cuddle with me in my room if you want.”

Boy did Mark really want to do that, his heart was doing flips in his chest at the way Johnny had called him ‘baby.’

“What if you’re already asleep by the time I’m done though?” Mark asks.

“I don’t mind being woken up if it’s by my cute boyfriend, you won’t be bothering me at all.”

“Well…when you put it like that then I guess I might have to then.”

Johnny smirks, “oh? You guess you might?”

Mark teases back, “yeah, that is what I said right?”

“Don’t play a game you’re not sure you can win Mark.”

“Isn’t that what makes it so exciting though?”

There’s silence between the both of them. Mark doesn’t stop staring at Johnny and he doesn’t let up on his end either.

“You know what, I’m just going to be in my room, definitely not thinking about what you just said,” Johnny finally says.

“Good luck with that Johnny~ I’ll just be here trying not to cry over my paper, you know, no big deal.”

Mark giggles when Johnny trips over his own feet as he’s walking out the door and he wonders how he got so lucky to have someone like Johnny like him so much to be his boyfriend.

  
  


It’s a little bit past midnight by the time Mark has finally closed all his research tabs on his browser and shut off his laptop. He barely made the deadline by a few seconds, but he had done it and Mark could finally have a little break. Mark wondered if Johnny was still awake, he did tend to be more of a night owl and sometimes Mark would wake up at 2 in the morning to use the bathroom and see the light coming through from the bottom of Johnny’s door. He gets up from his bed and brings an extra pillow with him.

Mark knocks on Johnny’s door and gets no response, so he quietly opens the door and sees Johnny curled up in bed holding onto one of his plushies. The sight makes Mark heart hurt and he feels bad about the way he’s about to interrupt this peaceful moment, but he is just so mentally exhausted and needs some good cuddles to help him recover. 

“Johnny…I’m here,” Mark whispers softly. Johnny mumbles in his sleep and Mark gently nudges him to wake him up.

“Johnny…I need some room so I can fit,” he continues.

His boyfriend finally opens his eyes and mumbles a string of incoherent words. He moves to the side, giving Mark enough room to curl into bed next to him, and pulls the blanket up over them. With Johnny’s body heat and the soft blanket covering him completely, Mark feels so warm and soft and ready to knock out. Johnny lets go of his plushie and pulls Mark to his chest, stuffing his face into his neck and breathing in Mark’s scent.

“Hi Johnny,” Mark says into Johnny’s chest. Just leave it up to his boyfriend to sleep shirtless still even though it’s cold outside.

“You smell nice,” his boyfriend responds in a sleepy voice.

“I guess you do too.”

Johnny huffs and Mark giggles when he feels his breath tickle his neck. It isn’t long before his boyfriend falls back asleep, and Mark lets the slow rise and fall of Johnny’s chest lull him to sleep.

* * *

  
  
  


_Mark: Send help Johnny is taking me on a date in an hour and I still don’t know what to wear_

_Joyce: ?!?!?!?!??!?! MARK LEE WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T KNOW YET, YOU TOLD ME IT WAS JUST A CASUAL DATE JUST WEAR SWEATPANTS AND A HOODIE_

_Mark: OKAY BUT WHICH ONES MAKE ME LOOK CASUAL BUT ALSO ATTRACTIVE IN THAT “I'M TOTALLY NOT TRYING TOO HARD” KIND OF WAY_

_Joyce: OH MY GOD. I’M COMING OVER._

* * *

After Joyce leaves, Mark gives his outfit one last check before he walks out and waits for Johnny. His friend chose a maroon hoodie he had that was soft and a bit oversized and paired it with a pair of black joggers. His heart was beating so fast as he waited for Johnny to walk out of his room, what if Mark was completely underdressed for the date and he would have to change and make Johnny wait on him?

He played around on his phone and upon hearing Johnny’s door open, he quickly stood up and ran his hand through his hair one last time. 

“Sorry for taking so long I hope you didn’t have to wait too much for me Mark, I just couldn’t find my other shoe and I was low-key about to cry until I found it under my bed.”

Mark smiles, “it’s okay Johnny, I didn’t wait long. I’m glad to see that I’m not underdressed at all.”

Johnny was in something identical to Mark, the only thing different was that Johnny’s hoodie was a dark green. 

“You look cute Mark, do you want to know where we’re going or do you still want it to be a surprise?”

“Don’t tell me! And you don’t look too bad yourself. You come here often?” Mark jokes.

“Oh my gosh Mark I _live_ here,” Johnny laughs.

“You’re going to have to put up with more of my bad jokes now that we’re dating!”

Johnny takes Mark’s hand and starts leading him out the door, “I won’t have to ‘put up’ with your jokes, they make me laugh and I like them.”

Mark was left speechless, and simply tightened his hold on Johnny’s hand as they walked towards his car. The anticipation was making Mark’s body feel hot and he hoped that Johnny wouldn’t notice his sweaty palms. Fortunately for him, they broke apart so that Johnny could get behind the wheel and Mark did his best to wipe his hands on his pants. 

The air outside was cold, but inside of Johnny’s car Mark felt like he was going to overheat from how excited he was to finally go on his first date with Johnny. It almost didn’t feel real that after so many weeks of wishing that Johnny would like him back, here he was after three weeks of being Johnny’s boyfriend and getting enough kisses to last him a lifetime. 

As Johnny drove down the road, Mark focused on the music playing and when he felt a hand reach over and gently rest on top of his thigh, he brought the sleeve of his hoodie up to his face to hide the way he couldn’t stop smiling.

  
  
  
  


After about 20 minutes of driving, Johnny pulled up to a stop and turned off the engine. Mark looked around and noticed that they were at a higher elevation and below them was the entire city. It looked so beautiful with all the specks of streetlights illuminating all the roads and buildings. Johnny had taken him somewhere pretty and isolated for them to finally have some time away from their busy schedules back at home, Mark couldn’t be any more grateful to his boyfriend. Johnny got out of the car and Mark did the same, they both cuddled next to each other as they looked over the view.

“I like it here,” Mark says, “it’s quiet, nothing like anything we could find back home.”

“I’m happy you like it Mark, I was nervous that it wouldn’t live up to your expectations so it makes me happy to see you enjoy yourself.”

Mark coos at his boyfriend, “Johnny, I would enjoy a date anywhere with you. Just as long as we could be together is all that matters.”

“Ah, I feel so dumb for being so nervous. I just really wanted to be somewhere that no one could interrupt us.”

Mark understands his boyfriend completely. The only time they really have time alone is when they’re at the apartment, but even then they’ve been so busy that they don’t even get a lot of time to really lay down together and enjoy each other’s presence.

Although Mark is enjoying the view with Johnny, the cold is starting to get to him and Johnny’s body heat is slowly not being enough to keep him warm outside.

“Johnny, I’m cold. Can we go back inside the car?” Mark asks.

Johnny pulls him in for a hug, “of course we can, whatever you want Mark. I have my laptop in the backseat so we can watch a movie if you want too.”

“Wow, you’re so romantic Johnny. How did I get so lucky with you?”

“I can ask myself the same thing about you,” Johnny responds.

There it was again, the speechless feeling that Johnny’s smooth comebacks left Mark in. The only thing he could respond with was a choked and nervous laugh as Johnny opened the door that led into the backseat of the car. Johnny followed right after and made grabby hands for Mark to scoot closer to him. 

Once the laptop is on and there’s a browser window playing some episode of a show Mark picked, Mark lets himself sink back into Johnny’s embrace and play with his fingers as they both mindlessly watch their show. 

Being in Johnny’s arms and feeling him play with his hair puts Mark in the most peaceful state he’s been in a while. Mark wishes that he could spend every second of the day like this, having his boyfriend massaging his hair softly and his other hand rubbing at his stomach. He could fall asleep like this if he wanted to, but Mark didn’t want to sleep and miss out on seeing how soft his boyfriend looked in his forest green hoodie. Yes, Johnny was hot and had muscles that made Mark suddenly need to drink a whole bottle of water, but more importantly he was so gentle and had an adorable personality that completely contradicted his rugged appearance. It was the perfect storm of all the traits Mark looked for and he was suddenly overwhelmed with the huge urge to kiss Johnny silly. 

Mark sits up and Johnny pulls his arms back, he turns to see his boyfriend with a concerned look in his eye.

“Is everything okay Mark?” Johnny asks.

“Everything’s great! I’m just wanting one thing right now.”

Johnny is about to ask Mark to clarify when he’s cut off by him leaning in and giving Johnny a short kiss.

“Just felt like I really wanted to kiss you right now, that’s all.”

Mark is about to lie back against Johnny again when he’s suddenly pulled into the latter’s lap.

“Just one kiss? Is that all you wanted?” Johnny asks.

Mark shakes his head, “you have no idea how many I want.”

“You say that as if I’m not 100% down to give you everything and anything you want.”

Johnny cups Mark’s face in his hands and begins fulfilling his promise. Mark places his hands on Johnny’s chest and reciprocates every kiss with unending enthusiasm. Finally, Mark has his boyfriend all to himself and he’s going to take full advantage of this opportunity to make out with his boyfriend until he’s dizzy.

As their lips keep locking and their tongues brush against each other, Mark starts feeling hot and it doesn’t help that Johnny’s hands have now started to wander from his face down his neck, gently stroking along his chest until they stopped at his waist. At a particularly hard pull to Johnny’s tongue, Mark feels two hands travel under his hoodie and secure a firm grip on his bare waist. Mark gasps into Johnny’s mouth and his hands ball up in the material of Johnny’s hoodie. 

Johnny pulls away from a kiss to whisper against Mark’s lips, “I had no idea that you were so tiny, I could easily hold all of you right now.”

“You seem to like that part about me a lot,” Mark teases.

A light gasp comes out of Mark’s mouth when Johnny brings him in closer and tightens his grip around Mark, “something about it just..really does it for me-“

“Aww does my boyfriend have a size kink?”

Johnny shuts him up with a heated kiss, “and what if I do? Don’t tell me I’m just the only one here.”

Mark doesn’t respond, can’t respond or throw back a tease at Johnny with the way his boyfriend is hungrily kissing him and stealing his breath. He feels Johnny’s hands slowly slip down lower until they’re pretty much on his ass, and Mark decides to help his boyfriend out a little and gives him a gentle push to fully grab his ass. Johnny groans and gives him a firm squeeze as he starts kissing down Mark’s neck. Mark holds onto Johnny’s shoulders and does his best to not start grinding in his boyfriend’s lap, a task that was getting increasingly more difficult to keep up with as Johnny kneaded his ass. It was almost as if Johnny was trying to ease Mark into taking the next step, and when he started sucking hickies into his neck Mark let himself fall into the temptation. 

As Mark rocks his hips against Johnny’s, he gasps into the now stuffy air of his boyfriend’s car every time he feels himself rub against Johnny. They’ve both grown stiff in their sweatpants throughout their make out session and Mark was hoping that they would take it all the way. He wanted Johnny so badly, even if they were a bit cramped in the backseat of the car. For his boyfriend, Mark would make it work.

In the middle of the two of them moaning softly into each other’s mouths, Mark pulls away and looks at Johnny, taking in the beauty that is his boyfriend with hazy eyes and lips that are flushed from all their kisses.

“Johnny, do you wanna, you know…do it tonight?” Mark asks shyly. 

His boyfriend looks at him for a moment, before nodding his head, “I mean, yeah I really want to if you want to. Are you really sure that you do because we can wait, I don’t mind just staying here and kissing you for a while.”

Mark smiles, “I’m sure Johnny, I trust you.”

They give each other a few more kisses before Johnny pulls away and reaches for his bag. He fumbles with the zipper and digs through it before pulling out condoms and lube. Mark smirks at his boyfriend who pinches his nose in response.

“Don’t judge me, it’s good to always be prepared okay! Now help me get your pants off so I can prep you.”

Mark laughs and gives him a kiss, moving off of his lap and hastily pulling his clothes off. He leaves the hoodie on, because technically Johnny was only talking about his pants, and gets back in his lap. 

“Have you fingered yourself before?” Johnny asks.

“Don’t worry Johnny, I have. You don’t have to go too easy on me.”

“You say that but I’m still going to do it anyways, I’m going to have to do a lot of prepping.”

Mark raises a brow, “are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“I won’t have to tell you anything, you’ll see for yourself when I’m done. Now get back in my lap.”

Mark shivers, his heart pounding in his chest with anticipation of what’s to come. He feels Johnny softly kneading his bare ass now, and when a lubed up finger starts circling his rim, Mark stifles a whine against Johnny’s shoulder.

His boyfriend keeps his word and really takes his time with Mark. He slowly progresses until he has three fingers stretching him out, each push inside of him making Mark’s mind fuzzy. Mark hugs him tighter as Johnny starts pumping his fingers a bit faster, hitting him in all the right spots and Mark can feel his thighs trembling. 

“Johnny, I think I’m good now, you can put it in,” Mark says in a rushed whisper.

“Are you sure?” Johnny asks.

“Yes I’m sure just, hurry up, I want to feel you already.”

Mark doesn’t need to tell him twice, Johnny pulls away from Mark to tear a condom packet open and brings down the waistband of his joggers. Through the dim lighting, Mark can see the way Johnny is straining against his boxers and it makes his mouth water. Without thinking, Mark reaches over and strokes his boyfriend over the thin fabric. His jaw drops when he feels how big Johnny is and how warm he is in his hands.

“No fucking way…” Mark gasps.

“I did say you would find out for yourself soon didn’t I?” 

He looks at his boyfriend for a silent confirmation before pulling down Johnny’s boxers and finally seeing his dick for the first time.

“So this is what love at first sight feels like.”

Johnny laughs, “in any other context that would be really romantic, I’m flattered that you like my dick too.”

“The word 'like' doesn’t even begin to cover it all Johnny, hurry up and get the condom on.”

They share another kiss or two while Johnny is trying to get the condom on as fast as he can. Although they had all the time in the world, they were desperate to complete that physical connection between them. Mark raised himself on his knees so that Johnny could properly line himself up against his lube-slicked entrance. The anticipation and excitement was making Mark shiver and he knew that Johnny could feel the way his body was trembling because he hesitated for a moment.

“Mark…you’re shaking so much are you sure?” Johnny asks, a concerned look on his face.

“Yeah,” Mark nods, his voice a bit shaky, “I’m just a little nervous and I’ve wanted you for so long and what if I disappoint you in some way and you stop liking me-“

“Shhh,” Johnny stops him from continuing to ramble about his insecurities and furthering his internal conflicts, “you’re not going to disappoint me Mark, I like you so much you have no idea.”

“Really?” Mark says in a small voice.

Johnny nods and brings one of Mark’s hands to his lips, giving him a soft kiss across his fingers.

“It’s just me here, you don’t have to be nervous that I won’t like you anymore. I’m so attracted to you and I’m going to make sure you know that by the time we get back home.”

Mark nods, but not before whining in embarrassment, “okay, I think I’m good now. You can keep going.”

Johnny kisses his fingertips again before returning his hands to Mark’s ass, he slowly breaches Mark’s entrance and once he has the head in, Johnny leans back and lets out a shaky sigh. 

“Oh God, I’m trying really hard not to cum on the spot right now.”

Mark is in the same boat, having someone of Johnny’s size trying to fill him up is overwhelming. If he had any less self control, he’d be whining non stop like those girls in that hentai clip Taeil sent to the group chat “on accident”. 

“It’s okay, I don’t think I’ll last either,” Mark pants.

Johnny continues to push through the rest of the way, and when he finally has Mark fully seated in his lap, they both pause to take a deep breath. Mark feels so full, he swears he can feel it in his stomach, and he grips tighter onto Johnny’s shoulders and leans back in for a bruising kiss.

There isn’t a lot of movement at first, just Johnny allowing Mark to get used to the stretch as he coaxes him with kisses and keeps him grounded by the hands holding his waist in place. Mark’s never felt this full before, he’s never slept with anyone that even came close to Johnny’s size and Mark’s feeling the same warm and fuzzy sensation he got when he ate half of Jungwoo’s edible. 

When Mark starts wriggling around in his lap, Johnny huffs out a laugh and pulls away from his boyfriend’s lips. Mark is about to complain about not getting anymore kisses until Johnny pulls out slightly and thrusts right back into him. Mark barely manages to bring his hand to his mouth to stifle his yelp as his insides get rearranged. He looks up to see Johnny looking right at him with a satisfying smirk.

“Fuck you,” Mark breathes out.

“Nah, I’d rather fuck you instead.”

And Johnny, always a man of his word, does just that. He doesn’t take Mark’s statement lightly, and really doesn’t go easy on him. The shallow thrusts quickly turn into full on, body quaking pounding that has Mark’s hands and thighs shaking. He can no longer keep every single noise that comes out of his mouth contained and Mark is thankful Johnny chose somewhere so secluded and private. There was no doubt that anyone that walked by the car couldn’t guess what was going on behind the tinted windows. If they didn’t hear Mark’s loud moaning at first, they could definitely connect the dots by the way the car was rocking by the sheer force of Johnny’s thrusts.

Mark reaches over to plant his hand on the window, in an attempt to ground himself and bounce back in Johnny’s lap. That attempt fails miserably when his hand slides straight down from all the condensation that had built up on the window. Mark fumbles about until Johnny moves his hands back to his waist to hold him steady, continuing to pound into him. 

“For someone who said they were going to bust quick, you’ve really lasted a lot longer than I thought.” Mark teases. 

Johnny slaps his ass playfully, not too hard to really sting, but the way Mark reacts with a full body shiver and a stifled whine gets his full attention. 

“Oh my god, did you like that?” Johnny asks.

Mark nods his head quickly, nearly giving himself whiplash from it. Johnny smacks him again, a little harder this time, and more precum dribbles down his dick.

“If you keep doing that I’m really going to cum,” Mark cries out. 

At hearing that Mark is getting close, Johnny’s hips begin to lose their rhythm as they both are desperate to finish. He can hear Johnny whining in the back of his throat every time he thrusts back fully into Mark and it makes his vision fuzzy. They try to kiss each other several times, but with the way Mark is bouncing in his lap, it’s hard for Mark to fully plant a kiss onto Johnny’s lips. They both lick messily at each other's lips and there’s definitely spit running down their chins. Either of them couldn’t care less, all Johnny was focused on right now was making Mark bust his load all over his maroon hoodie and all Mark could manage to think about was how he totally was going to be walking with a limp in the morning.

The wind gets knocked out of Mark when Johnny spanks him again, and this time he really just gets pushed over the edge. Without the chance to warn Johnny, Mark cums all over himself and just barely manages to miss making a mess of his boyfriend’s clothes. His maroon hoodie, tragically, gets cum all over it and Mark couldn’t be bothered to mourn over the loss of his favorite hoodie as Johnny continues to fuck him through his orgasm to chase his own high. 

The oversensitivity is nearly unbearable, Mark bites on the sleeve of his hoodie to keep himself from crying out and there’s sweat running down Johnny’s temple now. Johnny’s breath is coming out in harsh puffs of breath, and when he feels himself getting close, he pushes Mark onto his back and splays his body across the backseat of his car. Mark is practically boneless, and lets Johnny manhandle him in whatever position he likes. 

Johnny pulls out of Mark and tears off the condom. He continues jerking himself off and although Mark’s brain was still a pile of mush, he connects two and two on his own and reaches over to finish the job for him. Johnny groans and watches as Mark pumps his hand along his dick, his mouth opening up as he looks up at him, his eyes practically pleading with Johnny to finally come undone and paint the inside of his mouth with his cum.

And when he does, Mark swears it's the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. Johnny reaches over to fist Mark’s hair as he puts the head of his dick on his tongue and cums down his throat, his moans coming out strained. When Johnny’s finished, Mark swallows all that Johnny gave him, and gives the head of his dick a soft kiss before pulling away for good and wiping off his mouth. 

“That...Now that, was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” Johnny says in a breathy voice. Mark smiles shyly and starts reaching around for his pants.

“You mean it?” he asks.

Johnny pulls him in and kisses him, “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”

The both of them clean up quickly. The laptop had continued playing episodes of the show they were watching and Johnny just shut the laptop and put it in his bag, there was no way they had the time to spare to look at the screen when they were too busy looking at each other. 

Mark pulls the hem of his hoodie to look at the mess he made, he pouts and looks up at Johnny, “This is never gonna come out in the wash.”

“I’ll buy you a new one, or I can give you one of my hoodies if you want.”

After saying this, Johnny pulls off his own hoodie and hands it to Mark, “there, so you won’t have to sit in a dirty hoodie for the rest of our date.”

When Mark pulls the hoodie over his head and pushes his arms into the sleeves, he laughs uncontrollably. The fabric is practically drowning him and Mark has to roll the sleeves a few times so he can at least use his hands. He’s sure that if he stood up, the hoodie would run down until it hit mid thigh, and Mark is already planning all the ways he’s going to wear Johnny’s hoodie instead of his own clothes. 

The soreness is already kicking in, any movement makes Mark wince and Johnny looks at him apologetically, but Mark knows he’s far from sorry.

“Do you want to go home? I have a feeling you must be tired.” Johnny says.

Mark yawns, “oh really? What gave that away.”

“Alright, alright. Let’s get back in the front so we can drive home.”

Johnny steps out first and rushes over to Mark’s side of the car, he opens the door for him and Mark has only managed to get both of his feet on the ground when he immediately crumples to the floor. Like a newborn fawn taking its first steps, Mark struggles to keep himself upright and walk.

“Johnny…” Mark whines. “Look what you did!”

“Sorry baby, but I’ll gladly do it again.”

“I fucking know you will, now help me up!”

Johnny picks Mark up bridal style and gets him seated in the passenger's seat, he gives Mark a kiss on the forehead before closing the car door. 

The car is going to smell like sex for the next few days, Mark can already predict it. He’s going to have a hard time hiding the fact that he got piped down the next few days and he can practically hear the jokes the soccer team is going to make.

When Johnny starts driving them home, he reaches one hand towards Mark so he can link their fingers together.

Mark starts, “If anyone makes fun of me at practice on Monday-”

“I’ll take all the blame, don’t you worry about a thing.” 

“Hmm, will you carry me to practice?” Mark asks.

“If you want me to, I will. I’ll do anything for you Mark~” Johnny sings.

* * *

Later that night, when they’re back inside their apartment, Mark is already changed into a different pair of bottoms (some worn thin sleep shorts) but he keeps Johnny’s hoodie on, not yet wanting to get his boyfriend’s smell off of him. He gets out of his room, and walks right up to Johnny’s door. Mark hopes that he’s not asleep yet, it was pretty late but he had something important that he needed to get off of his chest.

Mark knocks twice on the door before a soft “come in baby” lets him know that Johnny is, in fact, still awake. Even though they’ve lived together for as long as they have, Mark still forgets that Johnny sleeps shirtless and it catches him off guard every night.

“What are you still doing up?” Johnny asks from his seat on top of his bed covers.

“I can ask you the same thing,” Mark responds. He takes a seat right next to Johnny and loops his arm through his. His boyfriend presses a kiss to the top of his head as Mark starts tracing random patterns on his arm.

They sit in silence for a couple long minutes, neither of them wanting to burst the bubble of peace and quiet that they shared. That is, until Mark can’t hold in what he’s been wanting to say ever since Johnny reassured him back when they were about to fuck in the backseat of his car. He wanted Johnny to know that it meant the world to him to know that he was wanted just as much, that Johnny looked at him and didn’t see all the things Mark was insecure about as flaws because to his boyfriend, he was everything he wanted.

Mark looks at Johnny, who in turn looks at him, and they both smile as they make eye contact.

“I think I’m kind of in love with you,” Mark says.

Johnny lets out a laugh that comes straight from his stomach, one of Mark’s favorites noises in the world besides when he can hear his boyfriend softly singing to himself as he studies and Mark has to gently press his ear as hard as he can against the door so he can get every second of it hardwired into his subconscious for later.

His boyfriend responds, “I think I’m kind of in love with you too. You dork.”

“You love me~”

“Yes, I do.”

“Can I sleep here tonight?” Mark asks sweetly.

“You already know you have your own spot in my bed.”

“Keep saying that and I’ll end up moving into your room.”

Johnny pinches Mark’s cheek, “you say that like it’s a problem, I’m not complaining if you’re wanting to start sleeping here.”

Mark thinks he could cry, “did I mention that I love you? Because I really fucking love you right now.”

“I don’t know, I think I’m going to need you to say it a couple more times. I like the way your voice sounds when you tell me you love me.”

Johnny doesn’t need to elaborate, because Mark _knows_. He knows his voice gets a little softer, a little uncertain, the words coming out a bit shaky from the sheer magnitude of his emotions. Even though he knows Johnny will say it back, it still feels sacred and delicate.

Before Mark falls completely into the abyss of sleep, he hears it too. The way Johnny’s voice sounds when he’s feeling so overwhelmed with adoration for Mark.

“I love you, goodnight.”

* * *

_TAEIL: so am I just supposed to pretend I didn’t see Johnny carrying Mark to the soccer field because they’re trying to cover up the way Mark was limping as soon as he set him down_

_TAEIL: AM I REALLY SUPPOSED TO PRETEND LIKE THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN._

_MARK: do you want to keep your kneecaps_

_MARK: yes or no_

_TAEIL:_ 😰😰😰

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> twt: [@sapphicyuta](https://twitter.com/sapphicyuta)  
> cc: [glitterjungwoo](curiouscat.me/glitterjungwoo)


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